“约翰肯尼迪政教要绝对分离”英文演讲稿

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相关热词搜索：肯尼迪 约翰 政教

“约翰肯尼迪政教要绝对分离”的英文演讲稿 本文关键词：肯尼迪，约翰，政教，英文，演讲稿

“约翰肯尼迪政教要绝对分离”的英文演讲稿 本文简介：IBelieveinanAmericaWheretheSeparationofChurchandStateisAbsoluteSeptember12,1960,addresstotheGreaterHoustonMinisterialAssociationBY:JohnF.KennedyWhilet

“约翰肯尼迪政教要绝对分离”的英文演讲稿 本文内容：

I

Believe

in

an

America

Where

the

Separation

of

Church

and

State

is

Absolute

September

12,1960,address

to

the

Greater

Houston

Ministerial

Association

BY:

John

F.

Kennedy

While

the

so-called

religious

issue

is

necessarily

and

properly

the

chief

topic

here

tonight,I

want

to

emphasize

from

the

outset

that

we

have

far

more

critical

issues

to

face

in

the

1960

election;

the

spread

of

Communist

influence,until

it

now

festers

90

miles

off

the

coast

of

Florida--the

humiliating

treatment

of

our

President

and

Vice

President

by

those

who

no

longer

respect

our

power--the

hungry

children

I

saw

in

West

Virginia,the

old

people

who

cannot

pay

their

doctor

bills,the

families

forced

to

give

up

their

farms--an

America

with

too

many

slums,with

too

few

schools,and

too

late

to

the

moon

and

outer

space.

These

are

the

real

issues

which

should

decide

this

campaign.

And

they

are

not

religious

issues--for

war

and

hunger

and

ignorance

and

despair

know

no

religious

barriers.

But

because

I

am

a

Catholic,and

no

Catholic

has

ever

been

elected

President,the

real

issues

in

this

campaign

have

been

obscured--perhaps

deliberately,in

some

quarters

less

responsible

than

this.

So

it

is

apparently

necessary

for

me

to

state

once

again--not

what

kind

of

church

I

believe

in,for

that

should

be

important

only

to

me--but

what

kind

of

America

I

believe

in.

I

believe

in

an

America

where

the

separation

of

church

and

state

is

absolute--where

no

Catholic

prelate

would

tell

the

President

(should

he

be

Catholic)

how

to

act,and

no

Protestant

minister

would

tell

his

parishioners

for

whom

to

vote--where

no

church

or

church

school

is

granted

any

public

funds

or

political

preference--and

where

no

man

is

denied

public

office

merely

because

his

religion

differs

from

the

President

who

might

appoint

him

or

the

people

who

might

elect

him.

I

believe

in

an

America

that

is

officially

neither

Catholic,Protestant

nor

Jewish--where

no

public

official

either

requests

or

accepts

instructions

on

public

policy

from

the

Pope,the

National

Council

of

Churches

or

any

other

ecclesiastical

source--where

no

religious

body

seeks

to

impose

its

will

directly

or

indirectly

upon

the

general

populace

or

the

public

acts

of

its

officials--and

where

religious

liberty

is

so

indivisible

that

an

act

against

one

church

is

treated

as

an

act

against

all.

For

while

this

year

it

may

be

a

Catholic

against

whom

the

finger

of

suspicion

is

pointed,in

other

years

it

has

been,and

may

someday

be

again,a

Jew--or

a

Quaker--or

a

Unitarian--or

a

Baptist.

It

was

Virginia

s

harassment

of

Baptist

preachers,for

example,that

helped

lead

to

Jefferson

s

statute

of

religious

freedom.

Today

I

may

be

the

victim--but

tomorrow

it

may

be

you--until

the

whole

fabric

of

our

harmonious

society

is

ripped

at

a

time

of

great

national

peril.

Finally,I

believe

in

an

America

where

religious

intolerance

will

someday

end--where

all

men

and

all

churches

are

treated

as

equal--where

every

man

has

the

same

right

to

attend

or

not

attend

the

church

of

his

choice--where

there

is

no

Catholic

vote,no

anti-Catholic

vote,no

bloc

voting

of

any

kind--and

where

Catholics,Protestants

and

Jews,at

both

the

lay

and

pastoral

level,will

refrain

from

those

attitudes

of

disdain

and

division

which

have

so

often

marred

their

works

in

the

past,and

promote

instead

the

American

ideal

of

brotherhood.

That

is

the

kind

of

America

in

which

I

believe.

And

it

represents

the

kind

of

Presidency

in

which

I

believe--a

great

office

that

must

neither

be

humbled

by

making

it

the

instrument

of

any

one

religious

group

nor

tarnished

by

arbitrarily

withholding

its

occupancy

from

the

members

of

any

one

religious

group.

I

believe

in

a

President

whose

religious

views

are

his

own

private

affair,neither

imposed

by

him

upon

the

nation

or

imposed

by

the

nation

upon

him

as

a

condition

to

holding

that

office.

I

would

not

look

with

favor

upon

a

President

working

to

subvert

the

first

amendment

s

guarantees

of

religious

liberty.

Nor

would

our

system

of

checks

and

balances

permit

him

to

do

so--and

neither

do

I

look

with

favor

upon

those

who

would

work

to

subvert

Article

VI

of

the

Constitution

by

requiring

a

religious

test--even

by

indirection--for

it.

If

they

disagree

with

that

safeguard

they

should

be

out

openly

working

to

repeal

it.

I

want

a

Chief

Executive

whose

public

acts

are

responsible

to

all

groups

and

obligated

to

none--who

can

attend

any

ceremony,service

or

dinner

his

office

may

appropriately

require

of

him--and

whose

fulfillment

of

his

Presidential

oath

is

not

limited

or

conditioned

by

any

religious

oath,ritual

or

obligation.

This

is

the

kind

of

America

I

believe

in--and

this

is

the

kind

I

fought

for

in

the

South

Pacific,and

the

kind

my

brother

died

for

in

Europe.

No

one

suggested

then

that

we

may

have

a

“divided

loyalty,“that

we

did

“not

believe

in

liberty,“or

that

we

belonged

to

a

disloyal

group

that

threatened

the

“freedoms

for

which

our

forefathers

died.“And

in

fact

this

is

the

kind

of

America

for

which

our

forefathers

died--when

they

fled

here

to

escape

religious

test

oaths

that

denied

office

to

members

of

less

favored

churches--when

they

fought

for

the

Constitution,the

Bill

of

Rights,and

the

Virginia

Statute

of

Religious

Freedom--and

when

they

fought

at

the

shrine

I

visited

today,the

Alamo.

For

side

by

side

with

Bowie

and

Crockett

died

McCafferty

and

Bailey

and

Carey--but

no

one

knows

whether

they

were

Catholic

or

not.

For

there

was

no

religious

test

at

the

Alamo.

I

ask

you

tonight

to

follow

in

that

tradition--to

judge

me

on

the

basis

of

my

record

of

14

years

in

Congress--on

my

declared

stands

against

an

Ambassador

to

the

Vatican,against

unconstitutional

aid

to

parochial

schools,and

against

any

boycott

of

the

public

schools

(which

I

have

attended

myself)--instead

of

judging

me

on

the

basis

of

these

pamphlets

and

publications

we

all

have

seen

that

carefully

select

quotations

out

of

context

from

the

statements

of

Catholic

church

leaders,usually

in

other

countries,frequently

in

other

centuries,and

always

omitting,of

course,the

statement

of

the

American

Bishops

in

1948

which

strongly

endorsed

church-state

separation,and

which

more

nearly

reflects

the

views

of

almost

every

American

Catholic.

I

do

not

consider

these

other

quotations

binding

upon

my

public

acts--why

should

you?

But

let

me

say,with

respect

to

other

countries,that

I

am

wholly

opposed

to

the

state

being

used

by

any

religious

group,Catholic

or

Protestant,to

compel,prohibit,or

persecute

the

free

exercise

of

any

other

religion.

And

I

hope

that

you

and

I

condemn

with

equal

fervor

those

nations

which

deny

their

Presidency

to

Protestants

and

those

which

deny

it

to

Catholics.

And

rather

than

cite

the

misdeeds

of

those

who

differ,I

would

cite

the

record

of

the

Catholic

Church

in

such

nations

as

Ireland

and

France--and

the

independence

of

such

statesmen

as

Adenauer

and

De

Gaulle.

But

let

me

stress

again

that

these

are

my

views--for

contrary

to

common

newspaper

usage,I

am

not

the

Catholic

candidate

for

President.

I

am

the

Democratic

Party

s

candidate

for

President

who

happens

also

to

be

a

Catholic.

I

do

not

speak

for

my

church

on

public

matters--and

the

church

does

not

speak

for

me.

Whatever

issue

may

come

before

me

as

President--on

birth

control,divorce,censorship,gambling

or

any

other

subject--I

will

make

my

decision

in

accordance

with

these

views,in

accordance

with

what

my

conscience

tells

me

to

be

the

national

interest,and

without

regard

to

outside

religious

pressures

or

dictates.

And

no

power

or

threat

of

punishment

could

cause

me

to

decide

otherwise.

But

if

the

time

should

ever

come--and

I

do

not

concede

any

conflict

to

be

even

remotely

possible--when

my

office

would

require

me

to

either

violate

my

conscience

or

violate

the

national

interest,then

I

would

resign

the

office;

and

I

hope

any

conscientious

public

servant

would

do

the

same.

But

I

do

not

intend

to

apologize

for

these

views

to

my

critics

of

either

Catholic

or

Protestant

faith--nor

do

I

intend

to

disavow

either

my

views

or

my

church

in

order

to

win

this

election.

If

I

should

lose

on

the

real

issues,I

shall

return

to

my

seat

in

the

Senate,satisfied

that

I

had

tried

my

best

and

was

fairly

judged.

But

if

this

election

is

decided

on

the

basis

that

40

million

Americans

lost

their

chance

of

being

President

on

the

day

they

were

baptized,then

it

is

the

whole

nation

that

will

be

the

loser,in

the

eyes

of

Catholics

and

non-Catholics

around

the

world,in

the

eyes

of

history,and

in

the

eyes

of

our

own

people.

But

if,on

the

other

hand,I

should

win

the

election,then

I

shall

devote

every

effort

of

mind

and

spirit

to

fulfilling

the

oath

of

the

Presidency--practically

identical,I

might

add,to

the

oath

I

have

taken

for

14

years

in

the

Congress.

For

without

reservation,I

can

“solemnly

swear

that

I

will

faithfully

execute

the

office

of

President

of

the

United

States,and

will

to

the

best

of

my

ability

preserve,protect,and

defend

the

Constitution.so

help

me

God.